It sucks you have to buy a new block

Welcome to Canada , Ray!!!

Ended up needing a replacement engine. There was hope until an EZ-Out was tried and broke.

Das ist ganz großer Scheißdreck!
Commiserations.😢

Ray, you're awesome to admit this. I mean you went wrong with the easy out getting stuck or you would have been able to drill it out. Once the engine is out of the car, you might still be able to drill it out. Most people wouldn't have admitted this mistake which has happened to people before of course.

This is going to sound crazy but i quit doing oil changes at my shop for this exact reason. A quick oil change turns in to a 2hr affair because the guy before cross thread,stripped or jerry rigged the plug. Then the customer says it wasn't like that when it came in. Im not blaming the customer because they had no clue.

That is such a horrible feeling when that happens, especially after taking the time to work it back and forth for so long.

I pretty much had this same thing happen during a water pump swap out myself. Also had the wandering hole, but it happened while drilling out a broken drill bit instead of an easy-out. Lucky for me, it was a steel block.

I was able to grind down the broken drill bit for a flat surface and got it drilled out. Then I filled the hole by welding it. Ground the weld flat and re-drilled and tapped a new hole. Problem solved.

I’m not sure of that was the “correct” way to solve the issue, but that is what worked. It was a “do or die trying” type of repair as they needed their car back the same day to be able to get to work the next day.

As if the time frame wasn’t bad enough to deal with, then one of those bolts breaking off just send your heart straight to your toes. 😡

Suggest that you speak to Eric O.

I'll take reasons I don't want a Subaru for $200

best thing i ever did was invest in low temp aluminum brazing rods … drill out larger than the bolt back fill the hole with the rod redrill and tap job done

Yep I hate that!

That just sucks 😳🫣😬

That was a real German: Scheiße

Bad Luck Ray. Sometimes that’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles. Just keep Going forward my Friend. What’s happened has gone. Steve Westmoreland 👨🏻‍🦳♿️🇬🇧🛠️❤️👍👍

Oh no… 😮

Should have used antiseize if it's in aluminum.

It's far from ruined.
You can still get that bolt out even with the easi-out broke in there.
However, i keep telling you in the comments that heat is the key but you obviously don't read comments. .because you obviously know better.

This was as tense as the last 2 minutes of a tied football game .

I've had so many complications and failures with easy outs through the years, I try to avoid them now. For drilling out a recessed bolt you can use a hinge bit that comes with a guide to center the drill bit (search "hinge bit set"), or maybe use some kind of bushing if you can find one of the right size. Especially in aluminum you've only got one chance to drill the pilot hole straight, since any bit will tend to walk to the side and damage softer aluminum. I feel the pain, not easy. Bravo to Ray for posting this experience, life is not all roses.

Ouch 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

Hey Ray. Let me come work for you. I. A good welder and mechanic 😅

Just take the pump off drill out the rest of the bolt and extract replace and reuse gasket if it’s new and never been crushed fully it’s not the worst thing ive ever seen had plenty of turbo down pipes strip out or break completely so there’s no taking the engine out. u get to extract in the smallest spot right on the firewall

Just a shout out to all the geniuses blaming this on it being a Subaru, like this has never happened to any other car make.

Should have hit it with some heat